Sweet and harmless
(This
review contains mild spoilers!)
I’ll be honest. I really enjoy
slice-of-life anime, so long as it does something unique and different with the
concept. I’ve really liked shows such as Nichijou, Watamote, Umaru-Chan, and
what I consider to be the holy grail of the genre, Non Non Biyori.
The hard part of being a fan is that
to find the gems, you have to look through a lot of garbage. I can’t tell you how many first episodes I’ve sat
through of slice-of-life shows that barely even try to be more than just
another cash in on the success of the good stuff.
As the summer season of anime
approached, Amaama to Inazuma caught my attention with the bright colours and
character designs, as well as the apparent focus on food and cooking.
Right off the bat, however, I have a
problem. The show’s animation is choppy and uneven, with characters often
jumping between positions rather jarringly, and everything has a strange
feeling of it being in slow motion. I don’t know if it’s just me, or if this
show’s budget wasn’t big enough to warrant proper animation, but it’s really
irritating to look at. Facial expressions are also a bit of a problem, as
several characters don’t really change depending on what they’re talking about.
They’re just kind of stuck looking the same way for the entire shot while their
mouth moves.
Where Amaama to Inazuma lacks in
animation, however, it makes up for in characters, music, and just overall
setting a scene. The music is simple, just a piano and a few other instruments,
but it really fits a simple slice-of-life like this. The characters are, for
the most part, quite likeable, especially the little toddler Tsumugi and her
father. There’s one scene where their entire backstory is relayed to you in
just one sentence, and the change of tone in the scene is enough for you to
fully comprehend exactly where they came from and what they’re going through.
It’s quite powerful.
The overarching theme of the episode
is how the father is dealing with what happened in his past, and how he’s
trying to make up for it to Tsumugi. What results is a completely believable
and heartwarming father-daughter relationship, and you connect with both almost
immediately. Tsumugi acts exactly as you’d think a little girl would, singing
and getting excited at little things, but she thankfully never crosses the line
and becomes annoying.
The other characters aren’t quite as
intriguing, such as the father’s over-the-top coworkers and the daughter of a restaurant
owner that they befriend. They all fill their roles just fine, but none of them
are exactly memorable. I assume if they’re given time, they might develop, but
for now I can’t be sure.
Overall, while the first episode of
Amaama to Inazuma has it’s problems, it’s definitely worth a look if you’re a
slice-of-life anime fan like me. The overall themes and main characters are
both handled very well, so I would recommend watching for yourself and seeing
what you think.
FINAL SCORE
7/10
Good
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